One of the major contributors to your weight gain is your diet. A bad diet can add as much as half a pound a day to your overall weight.
A bad diet that is rich in sugar not only makes you put on more weight, but also increases your risk of several diseases such as heart attack, diabetes, and obesity.
Sugar is one of the most hidden food items that you can consume it in huge quantities without you even realizing it. It is found in sweetened beverages, candies, baked goods, cakes, coffee, tea, milkshakes, sugary cereals, and a lot more.
The process through which your body converts the sugar or glucose into fat is little complex and involves many factors.
Here are the five common ways through which sugar is making you fat.
It is filled with empty calories
Sugar is added to most processed foods not because it is rich in nutrients, instead, it is added to enhance the taste.
Sugar is void of nutrients, it doesn’t contain any vitamins, minerals, protein, fat, and fiber which your body needs for its healthy functioning.
Studies point to the fact that regularly consuming foods rich in empty calories, and foods rich in sugar content can make you gain more weight more rapidly.
It can alter your hormone levels
Although regular consumption of sugar is bad for your body, occasional intake is unlikely to harm you.
However, daily intake of high amounts of sugar can wreak havoc to your blood sugar and hormone levels.
When you bombard your body with high sugary foods it leads to a condition called hyperglycemia, where your blood sugar levels spikes through the roof. This condition increases your risk of insulin resistance and leads to weight gain.
Insulin resistance is a condition where your body cells stop responding to insulin, leading to increased levels of blood glucose and insulin.
When your blood has high levels of sugar in it, it can lead to inflammation and impair the normal cell functions.
On most occasions, even though cells reduce their responsiveness to insulin hormone, it doesn’t inhibit the hormone’s role in fat storing. This means your body will rapidly start to put on more weight.
This is one of the prime reasons why people with high blood sugar are more prone to obesity and weight gain.
Furthermore, high blood sugar levels can inhibit the functioning of another hormone called leptin. This hormone is responsible for energy regulation, calorie intake, and burning.
Leptin hormone also controls your hunger and helps you to eat less.
This is one of the main reasons why you have more craving after drinking a sugary beverage though your stomach is already filled to its capacity.
Sugar Rich Foods Increase Your Craving
Some of the popular and widely consuming sugar-rich foods such as cola, cookies, cakes, ice cream, candy, and muffins have very little to zero protein, a vital nutrient that promotes the feeling of fullness.
Studies have shown that protein is one of the most vital nutrients that makes you feel full. It does that by slowing down your digestion, and by maintaining your blood sugar levels, and by regulating hunger hormones.
For example, protein regulates the levels of a hormone called ghrelin, a vital hormone that induces hunger and increases calorie intake.
Conversely, eating foods rich in protein induces the secretion of hormones that makes you feel full and cut down your calorie intake.
In general foods rich in sugar are more likely to have less amounts of fiber, another vital nutrient that makes you feel fuller for longer time duration and reduce your appetite and craving.
Sugary foods displaces healthy foods
If the main part of your diet is filled with added sugars, and refined carbs, there is a high chance that you are missing foods rich in vital nutrients.
Your body needs nutrients such as protein, vitamins, fiber, and minerals which are found in nutritious foods. While all if not most of the sugary foods are void of these important nutrients.
Apart from lacking in nutrients, sugary foods also do not have antioxidants, which are found in plenty in foods like olive oil, nuts, beans, eggs, and many vegetables and fruits.
Antioxidants are very important for your well being as it plays a major role in reducing oxidative stress caused by free radicals.
If your body lacks antioxidants, it can lead to uncontrolled free radical damage that paves way for various diseases like cancer, obesity, weight gain, and many other chronic diseases.
Eating processed, and ultra-processed foods that are high in added sugars will displace the nutrients present in healthy foods you might eat along with it like fruits and vegetables.
Could make you eat more
Studies have shown that consuming foods rich in fructose, a type of sugar will directly increase the secretion of a hormone called ghrelin, a hormone that promotes hunger and make you eat more.
Additionally, a sugar-rich diet will decrease the secretion of the appetite-suppressing hormone peptide.
Many other research studies have shown that sugary foods affect the part of the brain called the hypothalamus, and increase your craving for more sweets, sugary foods, and foods abundant of empty calories.
This increase in desire for sugary and calorie-rich foods will make you put on more weight and can lead to obesity in the long run.
